"Just hurry up and say yes! Those corpses are useless to us anyways!" The coach driver appeared from the shadow of the carriage and gave Cain a ring. "Here are all of the monsters we've hunted, now please save him!"
The elf smacked the driver on the back of his head and dragged him off to the side. "Jared, we're in this mess already because you said yes without thinking! Learn from your mistakes!"
"So, what! Those corpses are dust compared to Jacob's life!" The driver snapped back.
"Hey, children. Stop bickering and show me the patient." Cain interrupted them bluntly, trying to hold back the excitement of having a test subject being brought to him. A giggle repeatedly interrupted by sniffles came from within the beat-up carriage.
The elf and the man stared at each other, communicating their confusion without words. 'Was that Victoria? She hasn't even smiled ever since we got hurt badly. It usually takes hours of comforting and assurance before she returns to normal, and that's for lighter wounds.' The elf thought as the short man just stared flabbergasted.
The elf directed Cain to the back of the carriage. Cain entered the torn canvas, not daring to touch it for fear of it collapsing immediately. He looked upon the massive body, covering most of the floorboards. Three gashes caused by claws appeared to have torn his armor like paper. 'This is going to be difficult… At least I'll be able to test out the limits of regeneration with this. 'Cain pondered how to save the man in front of him until a snark voice cut him off.
"Heh, you really think this country bumpkin can save your leader? He's already dead!" The mage that was too scared to do anything had finally recovered. At the sound of her words, the girl hunched over their leader resumed her sobbing fits. The elf tried desperately to pry her off so Cain could inspect the wound.
"Where was that attitude when you were fighting the wolves, huh?!" The elf snapped at the woman while sheltering the girl. The mage cowered in recollection of the nightmare. On closer inspection, Cain realized the girl is a priest. Ignoring the woman, he shuffled over to the girl.
"Are you a priestess? Can you not heal him?" Cain asked with a soothing voice. She stared at him with a confused look, attempting to hold back her tears. 'This girl looks 15, maybe 16… why is she doing something this dangerous? Either way, if I stick close to this group, I'll be able to investigate holy magic too.'
The girl responds in between sniffles. "No.. sniff.. I ran out of… sniff… mana."
"Ah, I see." Cain moved over to the body, kneeling down at its side. The floorboards had been stained red, except for some lighter imprints from people standing or kneeling. He inspected the wound in detail.
Each claw mark was almost a meter long and 5 centimeters wide, stretching from his left shoulder to his right hip. Each gash had pierced at least one vital organ, his left lung appeared to have been filleted. 'If it weren't for this girl's healing magic, he may have died on the spot.' Cain thought to himself as a raspy voice reached his ears. "Don't worry about me, take care of my party members first."
Cain injected his mana into the body, using it to stop the bleeding and direct the blood along the proper channels. The body's mana appeared to have been completely depleted. After stabilizing the body's wounds with no change in appearance, he looked back at the driver.
He had a deep gash on his left arm, his blood trickling slowly. The elf had a cut on her right leg. The mage didn't even have a single scratch even though the priestess appeared to have cuts and bruises.
[Master, that mage is from one of the three most important families. If you're involved with her, I'm afraid troublesome things will happen.]
[Thanks for the heads up Dresil. The way I see it is, if I get involved with her, I can form enemies to experiment, er, I mean spar with.]
Cain looked back to the body sprawled on the floor. He began his repairs on the victim's lung using his mana to speed up the natural regeneration of the body while fending off bacteria and rearranging everything in their correct spots, occasionally creating new cells from mana.
Once he got accustomed to the process, his thoughts wondered. 'According to the manga I've read… the correct course of action would be to ignore her. Assumedly, she is a spoiled brat who everyone pays attention to whether they want to or not, especially since she looks pretty. Once someone denies her of this attention, she'll attempt to figure out why from frustration.
'Worst case scenario, she'll just send some guinea pigs (assassins) to me. From this point, I'll just need to put on an act of hesitantly agreeing to whatever she says after denying it multiple times. Since she's rich I can even get some treasures from her while I'm at it.'
To the others it looked as if Cain had frozen in time. They dared not disturb him for fear of messing him up. The mage spoke up after recovering her wits from earlier. "See! He doesn't even know holy magic! How could he heal him?" A splinter of wood flew across the carriage, followed by a sharp yell from the elf. "Shut up!" The driver walked over to Cain.
"Excuse me sir, can you heal him or not?"
"Just call me Cain, and yes I can. Go ahead and introduce yourselves as I work so I know how to address each of you. I'll be needing a ride to the capital as well." The mage scoffed at being ignored once again.
[Dresil, cook some meat for me while I work please.]
[Yes, Master.]
The elf replied, "I'm Veronica Crestbreezer, a C-rank ranger. I'm almost at the fourth circle and use the wind element. This little girl is Victoria Albania, a D-rank healer who can also use a little fire magic.
"Our leader you're about to heal is Jacob Ursa. He is a B-rank tank who uses the earth and water elements to strengthen his body and armor. The little boy over there is Jared Whittle, a C-rank assassin that can use the shadow and air elements. That disgusting woman is Catherine Tri'laze, a fifth circled B-rank mage." The elf scowled at her while she said this.
"Thank you, Veronica. I'll need everyone to step out. A fire should already be prepared in the small cave over there." Cain responded while taking off Jacob's armor and prepared to heal at a faster pace. The group hesitantly left the carriage and sat by the fire.
They arranged the massive leaves laying around as bedding. Roots were holding several kilograms of meat, roasting each piece delicately, filling the cave with a mouthwatering aroma.
"Do you really think he can save Jacob?" Victoria's voice quivered as she said his name.
"I hope so… I couldn't detect what magic circle or element he has though." The elf responded, staring at the meat. "Are these the demon wolves from earlier?"
Jared moved closer to the meat, reaching to take a piece of it. A root appeared from the ground and slapped the back of his hand. Shocked, he rubbed his hand as he retreated to his spot. "Looks like it… This guy is sketchy no matter how you look at it."
"Says the assassin…" Out of habit, Veronica mocked Jared. They sat in a solemn silence for what seemed like hours. Creaks from the carriage echoed throughout the cave as Cain walked out. Everyone but Catherine rushed to meet him with expectant gazes.
"Everyone go sit back down, he just needs to rest."
"Is he really ok?" The elf inquired, suspicious of this newcomer.
"Go see for yourself." Cain replied as he walked past them towards the fire. The group rushed into the carriage. Moments later, laughter and crying can be heard. They walked out slowly and collapsed next to the fire. The elf is the only one who remained awake, unsure of whether or not she could trust this guy. Cain took this opportunity to ask some questions.
"Do monsters usually exit the forest like that?"
Victoria looked away. This was obviously not an easy subject to talk about. "Only days before a monster invasion occurs will they be able to cross the border. The adventurer's guild usually lets us know when this will happen. They didn't say anything this time though." 'Wait, why didn't they? The dean was even late to unlock the guild this morning as well…' Cain interrupted the elf's train of thought.
"A monster invasion? When does that occur?"
"It usually occurs when the barrier separating the forest and these plains weaken. The magic circles enforcing the border are maintained by the capital and require immense amounts of mana to sustain. A few weeks every year, an invasion occurs when the barrier weakens.
"During this time, the church asks for donations of mana from everyone, despite how much you have, while the adventurers fend the monsters off. They use this mana to maintain the barrier for another year. The weird thing is, the church asked for donations four days ago and it lasted for a day…" The elf trailed off as she attempted to find a connection.
'So, the ceremony ended three days ago… isn't that when I came to this world? I'm not getting a good feeling about this.' Before Cain had time to think it through carefully, a root offered him a piece of meat.
"You're not seriously going to eat that are you?" The mage looked at him with disgust. She had been ignored this entire time and finally mustered up the courage to speak.
As Cain took a bite, he replied, "Why not? I need to eat lunch and it tastes good." The elf immediately jumped up shielding the sleeping Jared and Victoria with her body as the mage ran away. Cain looked at them confused as several moments passed by without anything happening. The elf sits back down slowly, staring at Cain suspiciously.
"You didn't explode?" She finally asked.
"Why would I? People don't explode out of nowhere." Cain responded dumbfounded.
"They do when they eat monster meat due to the violent mana." The elf reached for a piece but was rejected by a swatting root.
[Dresil… didn't you say adventurers eat this meat when they're short on food?]
[Yes, Master. They explode shortly after most of the time.] Dresil responded in her flat tone, unaware of what the sentence implied.
And you didn't think to mention this beforehand?] Cain asked worriedly. He stared at the meat he was holding with a suspicious gaze.
[It was not needed, Master. Those puny adventurers explode due to the limits of mana their body can contain. With the Master's specially constructed veins and heart, the Master can eat dragon meat without a problem.]
[Dragon meat? Sounds tasty…]
As this conversation took place, Cain finished off his fifth and sixth skewer. Catherine peeked in slowly, disappointed to see that Cain was still breathing. 'Maybe I can get his help with this stupid family tradition? He does seem to be powerful.' Catherine sat back down as she plotted her schemes.
Upon the arrival of Catherine, Veronica remembered what Cain said earlier. "You do know it's past lunch right?" Cain looked at her shocked, almost dropping his eighth skewer. He looked outside as the sun was setting, casting a bloody red sky over the city.
'What's up with this ominous sign… well as long as it doesn't interrupt my meals and naps it doesn't matter. I didn't realize it took that long to heal Jacob. Cain continued to eat his skewers before stopping momentarily.'
"You guys should rest here for the night then. Jacob shouldn't be moved for a while; his body needs time to get adjusted. We can go to the capital tomorrow morning. If possible, could you direct me to the adventurer's guild as well? I would like to register." Cain looked over at the carriage as it collapsed. Dresil's roots slowly replaced the covering.
"Sure, we need to report this anyways. I thought you were at least an S-rank adventurer?" Veronica replied as she made a bed to sleep on from the remaining leaves.
"Nah, I'm travelling from afar so I'm not registered on this continent yet." Cain replied as he finished the remaining skewers. The fire disappeared under the ground, once more. As the light had gone out, everyone but Cain fell asleep. A multitude of vines emerged from Cain's clothes, slowly taking on Dresil's form.
"Master, is there really a need to go with them? With the Master's power, he could easily overpower the city guards and walk in." Dresil's half formed figure asked from the dark. She created more leaves to blanket everyone but the mage who passed out earlier.
"That would only create future troubles… This is the easiest way to go undetected. Not to mention, these adventurers can collectively use every element. This would give me plenty of opportunities to discover how magic normally operates in this world, along with the common sense that the natives here have.
"When I go to the guild, I can challenge some officials to see how they fight as well. As long as I have enough mana, it will be impossible to kill me unless I'm instantly vaporized, or my head is damaged. Until I find ways to prevent this, it would be best to lie low, or at the very least, prevent making enemies left and right.
"The worst thing I can do is go blazing in without any knowledge of this world whatsoever." Cain gathered some of the freshly made leaves to set up his bed. 'Oh, I forgot to ask Dresil something due to all of the events that occurred.'
"Dresil, did you absorb some of my mana last night? I was extremely tired this morning." Cain looked over where Dresil was sitting. He saw her merging with the cave as she appeared to be entering a state similar to hibernation.
'Is she avoiding me? I'm probably just thinking too much, it's probably hard for her to move around a lot without the sun anyways.' Cain's thoughts roamed through the possible experiments that can be conducted tomorrow as he gradually fell asleep.